2013Q1 Reports: CL Journal

Our raw submission numbers creep ever upwards: this year we received
113 new submissions, and a total of 180 submissions when resubmissions
of articles originally submitted in earlier years are included. But,
as we've seen over the last few years, the number of inappropriate
submissions is high: in 2012 we received 55 submssions deemed
unsuitable. For comparison, in 2011 we received 107 first
submissions, of which 42 were considered inappropriate. As in
previous years, a significant proportion of the inappropriate
submissions come from India; the papers concerned are often very short
(of typical conference paper length) and either outside CL's scope, or
unaware of relevant literature. Last year we revised our submission
guidelines in an attempt to discourage such submissions, but my
suspicion is that the guidelines are simply not read.

Our average time to first decision for 2012, not including papers
deemed inappropriate by the editor, was 64 days, compared with 57 days
in 2011 and 58 days in 2010.

See the numbers at the end of this report for a detailed breakdown of
statistics regarding submissions.

Since the beginning of 2010, we have averaged around six long articles
per issue, where prior to going electronic-only and open access, the
norm was four articles per issue. This increase in page count
increases our costs, of course. Currently, we operate with a small
number of articles in reserve, which gives us some ability to combine
related articles in the same issue, and provides some insurance in
case we have a temporary drying-up of material. However, articles are
published (in an not-yet-proofread form) under a 'Just Accepted' tab
on the MIT Press website as soon as they have been accepted for
publication, so that they are accessible prior to being formally
assigned to an issue.

2 Departments

2.1 Book Reviews [Report by Graeme Hirst]

Book reviews are edited by Graeme Hirst. We publish two or three
reviews in each issue. In order to avoid a conflict of interest,
reviews of books in the Morgan & Claypool series that Hirst edits are
coordinated by our squibs editor, Pierre Isabelle, with Hirst out of
the loop.

2.2 Squibs [Report by Pierre Isabelle]

At the beginning of year 2012, there were no submissions in the squibs
pipeline pending from the previous year. In the course of year 2012,
10 papers were (re-) submitted as squibs. At the end of 2012, there
was only one submission left in the pipeline. Thus, 11 decisions were
made over the year.

As of 10 February 2013, one paper has been (re-) submitted yet to the
Squibs Editor this year.

In the course of 2012, I also served as Associate Book Review Editor
for three different books.

3 Administrative Matters

3.1 Editorial Handover

Paola Merlo will officially take over as editor-in-chief of the
journal in mid 2013, at which point Robert Dale will step down after
10 years as editor. We are carrying out a phased handover process
during the first half of 2013.

3.2 Editorial Assistance

Suzy Howlett, who essentially runs the journal, will be standing down
at around the same time as I hand over to Paola. Paola is in the
process of looking for a replacement editorial assistant.